Untitled Firefly Fic
by Rogue Leader
Summary: What if Simon and River had planned the whole thing?
1. Accomplished

**Characters:** Simon and River Tam  
**Word Count:** 200  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summary:** What if River and Simon planned the whole thing?  
**Author's Notes:** Okay. So. Dark!Simon is so totally to blame for this. This is a nutty AU speculation, using the prompts from , even though this is **not** a part of the challenge. And if anyone wants to be my Chinese-Guru until I get my hands on that gorram dictionary, that would be shiny. And a fic title wouldn't go amiss, either.

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He had a lapful of River as soon as he had sat down.

Simon Tam's shift at the hospital had gone well, and he was fairly certain he had added a few more stars next to his name. His Residency would be over very, very soon at this rate, and his status in the medical community would be magnified that much more. It was a sweet victory, being so gifted. But these thoughts fled as his younger sister snuggled into him.

"I did it today, at school," she said simply. "Got everything we need."

Simon nuzzled River's neck as he felt her hand run up and over his chest and deposit a data chip in his shirt pocket.

"That's my girl," he cooed, hugging her close. "I have all the accounts set up and a payment plan in place. All we need to do is make it untraceable."

River giggled. "We can do that after dinner."

"You bet, sister-mine. Once that's done, everything will be in place. Are you ready?"

"I was born ready," she replied, before burying her face in his shoulder.

Simon rubbed his sister's back affectionately. "_Tai hao le, xiao mei mei,_" he whispered. "_Tai hao le..._"

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_**Translations:**_

_**1) **_Very good, brave sister. Very Good..._**  
**_


	2. Amused

"It's Government-sponsored, daddy! Only the best of the best can get in!"

It took all of Simon's effort to not burst out laughing as he watched River play their parents. They had moved into phase two of the plan, which wasn't so hard, since River's boredom at school was hard to deny. His genius sister didn't have to stretch very far to beg Mother and Father to let her go. She had been looking forward to it ever since she and Simon had begun investigating it almost a year ago.

"Please?" she sulked, eyes wide for Gabriel and Regan Tam. "It's such an exciting program, and so much more challenging than what I'm doing now!"

Simon had to agree. What he and River had discovered about this 'Academy' had intrigued them both, and had appealed to the power-hungry side of both Tam siblings. They needed each other for this to work, though, as River was the only suitable candidate for applying and Simon was the only doctor qualified to look after her when it was all over. No one needed to know about their plans, though, and so he watched silently as Gabriel exchanged a look with his wife before turning an indulgent eye back to his daughter. "Of course, sweet-pea. If it's as prestigious and as challenging as you say, then you can go."

With a delightful squeal, River threw her arms around Father and kissed his cheek. With a smug look, Simon smiled at his sister and headed up to his room.

It had finally begun...


	3. Anxious

"Mei mei...mei mei, listen to me," Simon said, hands cupping River's face. His thumbs wiped the salty tears from her cheeks. "We've worked too damn hard to back out now."

"Scared, Simon. Almost too scared. What if it doesn't work? What if..."

"Shhh. It'll be fine. We've got our code, you can tell me everything that goes on and I'll work on treatments...we can do this. We can!"

River suddenly grabbed Simon's hands, frightened eyes boring into his. "I don't wanna do this. Simon, I don't want..."

"Shh, mei mei. Just think of the things we'll be able to do. Think of the people we could control..." he whispered fervently, pulling her into a tight hug. "Just think, River-mine. An Alliance sponsored 'academy' turning out the perfect weapon, turning out the perfect you...only to have that weapon, to have you turn around and gut them from the inside out. We could own this 'verse, my dear, sweet sister. We could own it all."

The soft crying eased as he spoke, the small, seemingly frail body of the girl clinging to her brother. Soon the soft hiccups subsides and the watery gaze held fire as she pulled away to look up at him. She nodded. "Own it all. Play as we see fit. Fix the 'verse. Fix everything."

"Yes. But I need you to be brave for me. Be brave, sister-mine, and take this first step."

"Journey of a thousand miles..."

"...begins with a single step. Need you to take it. Only you can start this." A moment of silence as the siblings shared a loving look. "I won't let them hurt you."

"Promise? Promise you'll come get me if it goes wrong?"

"I promise, mei-mei. I promise."


End file.
